Smoke at idle

My motor has suddenly started smoking at idle. It doesn't seem to do it under load at all, and it doesn't do it above 2,000 RPMs as well as 1,000 RPM. If I hold it right a t 1,500 RPM it smokes like a madman though. I haven't had the time to compression check it yet due to work and being sick. Does this sound like rings/valve seals or my turbo maybe?

Oops, forgot to add, its blue smoke and smells strong of oil.

Valve seals/guides = initially you will get smoke upon engine startup, will stop after a few seconds. As it progresses you may see smoke when initially pulling away from a light or between shifts as it gets worse.

Rings are going to be more consistent, under accelration. When real bad will smoke bad under trailing throttle (high vacuum and engine speed)

I'm kind of leaning toward the turbo for a guess.

Try a leak down test to evaluate the rings.

Or check for play in the turbo shaft. Excess play does not always mean a bad turbo seal but.......

yea thats what mine was doin. it got real bad after a while like i could barely see the headlights of cars behind me!

Checked the compression today, 160 on all cylinders. The turbo shows signs of the fins hitting. What the hell causes a 2.3T to smoke THREE stock turbos within 99,000 miles? I don't know about the last two, but I replaced the oil supply line on this one as well as primed the turbo with oil. I always wait at least 60 seconds before turning the car off also, unless I was doing very slow, no boost driving. If I was really hard on it, I let it cool off for at least 2 minutes no matter how long I was going easy afterwards.

Could my bad cam bearings be causing a low pressure oil supply line type of situation? I don't have the money or time to get the stupid head fixed... And I'm sure as hell not buying another turbo any time soon. I am swapping in a 351, however this is my daily driver right now and I've got no other way to go to work.

Did you check the oil supply manifold that the supply attaches to. Maybe it's blocked. Is the return line plugged or restricted?

I'll have to get the return line off for inspection but nothing was blocked when I installed the turbo... The supply manifold is a bastard so that will have to wait until work slows down on Tuesday and I can get my car on the rack.

Well, the theory of the cam bearings being worn and causing low oil pressure is now proven wrong. My buddy has a TC with over 100K on it and he says one of his cam bearings is totally melted (basically non existant). His turbo doesn't make any noise or smoke. I'm gonna get a new sending unit / tee and check my supply line.

Make sure are using the right sized oil line!I went through the same problem and wiped out a brand new T3 and a few other turbos as well.Compare the stock line to the new ones and see if there is much of a differance,Just make sure you are positive that you fixed the problem before slapping a new turbo on,they can get expensive real quick.Let us know what you find.

I'm using a braided supply line that is larger than the stock line. I used brake line fittings to attach it and I never checked the ID of those. I'm gonna be tearing into it today and I'll see if maybe the ID of the fittings is too small. If so I'll drill them out and see what happens.

What are you using for a drain line?